So far, I've got around 100 problems rated 1400+ accepted.

Most of the time, I think hard but fail to come up with a clear solution idea, so I end up reading the editorial or comments and then implementing the solution described there.

Still, I feel like I'm basically unable to solve 1400-level problems on my own.

I get lost in the analysis, fail to conceptualize the problem, miss key observations, and so on.

Given that, is "solve more problems" still valid advice?

I'm already comfortable with implementation and familiar with basic techniques and tricks (like binary search, DFS, BFS, etc.).

What I seem to be missing is some fundamental analytical ability.

I'm not sure if that can even be trained.

I’m curious — what has your experience been like getting past the Pupil level?

Hello Codeforces,

Let me start with confession: I feel I suck at competitive programming.

This is kind of embarrassing, because I work as software developer for over 10 years!.

Despite the fact I feel really comfortable with C++/implementation, even easy "observation" or "ad hoc" problems are often difficult for me. I can usually solve A and B during contest — but slowly. Doing C is waaay beyond me.

As I'm writing this, I've solved ~270 problems on CF plus ~50 more on other platforms. This includes most of A2OJ "ladder" that targets C level. I believe this amounts to 600-800 hours of dedicated practice.

Result? I'm still Pupil. I've reached Specialist, but not for long, so it was more like luck that real achievement.

When I see ratings of other people, rarely I see someone stuck at Pupil level for so long. It seems so easy for many people to reach Specialist and beyond.

So I wonder, is it time to give up my ultimate goal, which is Expert?

If someone invested, lets say, 800h hours for focused CP practice and still Pupil... should "total lack of CP talent" be declared and is it time to move on?